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Here you’ll find thoughts on change, learning, 21st Century teaching, and all the latest updates on Powerful Learning Practice and what we’re doing. Dive in. Subscribe via RSS | Subscribe via Email
‘You are being rude if I’m doing all the talking’
From the May issue of T.H.E. Journal . . . “It used to be in the 20th century that I considered it rude when people were texting or typing when I was presenting. Now, I consider it rude if I am the one who is doing all the talking.”
read moreDistance Learning: How I Engage Students
Another major a-ha for me as an online teacher is the dynamic and potential for group involvement. When I describe what I do to people who are, shall we say, “not connected to the world of web culture,” they are amazed. “You mean the kids can see you and hear you? Don’t they get bored?” Well, if all they did was listen to me teach, then yes, they would get bored. Wouldn’t you? Which is why I make sure that my classes do not involve lecturing.
read moreUse digital storytelling to show us what makes you a connected learner for a chance to win an iPad 3!
If you want to become a 21st century educator — and prepare iGeneration students for an exciting but unpredictable future — you first have to become a 21st century learner. That’s right. The “connected learner” is YOU. At Powerful Learning Practice, we’ve created a year-long, professional learning journey that takes educators and turns them back into learners first: The Connected Learner Experience. To celebrate the launch of our 2012-13 learning journey, we want to hear from you – What makes you a connected...
read morePeriwinkle visits Beverley Acres Public School in Ontario, Canada
Periwinkle, our traveling mascot penguin has had a busy year since his departure in January. He has seen educators and administrators shifting and transforming their 21st century practices through our year-long professional learning journey. He’s also had some time to play, see sights, and even get into a little trouble along the way. Periwinkle’s latest adventure Periwinkle had quite a time visiting Beverley Acres Public School in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. At first he was quite nervous as he had no idea he was entering a...
read more20 innovative books for your summer reading list
Are you gearing up for your summer reading? Don’t hit the beach with an empty Kindle or tote bag! If you’re looking for something to challenge, stimulate, or entertain you, we’ve got 20 suggestions for your summer reading list. Enjoy! 20 innovative books for your summer reading list Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative Unschooling Rules: 55 Ways to Unlearn What We Know About Schools and Rediscover...
read moreDistance Learning: Closer than It Looks
During my time as an online educator, I’ve used a variety of video conferencing platforms. I have taught students in public schools, Catholic schools and Jewish Day Schools and complementary schools. The technology is powerful, but there is something that catches my eye each time I run a session: it’s the human reaction to these technology-supported events. I think there is a need, in today’s wired world, to connect to another person far away, living a different, yet somehow similar life.
read moreA Day in the Life of a Connected Educator – Using social media in 21st century classrooms
One of our main goals at Powerful Learning Practice is to turn educators into 21st Century educators. That is, teach them how to use social media and other powerful Web 2.0 tools to transform their classrooms into learning environments that are ready for today’s iGeneration students. One of the most common questions we get is, “But where do we find the time to use all this new technology?” To answer that question, we developed this infographic – A Day in the Life of a Connected Educator to show that using social media...
read moreElectronic portfolios for students: Fredericksburg Academy’s action research gives students a voice
The crown jewel of our year-long, job-embedded professional learning journey, The Connected Learner Experience, is the action research project that each team completes and presents at our year-end culminating celebration. Action research is a process in which our educators collaboratively examine their own educational practice systematically and carefully. They work together to identify a problem within their school or community, and then collaboratively to solve it. Action research is meaningful, positive, and reflective. It is data-driven,...
read more25 Top Education Blogs to Rock Your World – #PLPnetwork chat recap
PLPeeps blasted the Twittersphere with a who’s who of top edcuation blogs and online thought leaders in education on April 29. PLP’s second twitter chat discussed, “With everything that’s out there, who are your “go-tos” – the thinkers you want to learn from, the people who live in your world who make you laugh while showing you new ideas, the ones who always give you something you can use the next day.” Tweets went flying and while this list isn’t comprehensive, we’re sharing some of the links that...
read moreConnected Test-Taking: Is It Cheating?
Students sit in the test-taking room, with full access to computers and wireless connections. As they work on national exams, they can be seen accessing the internet from time to time. Are the results from this testing going to be corrupted because these test-takers are not isolated from global information resources? Cheating — or high-tech cheating, as it is called today — what is that exactly? And is it really a problem? Do our old-school definitions of cheating need rethinking?
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